Don Cheadle acts with Samuel L. Jackson for the first time in Secret Invasion
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Don Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson have been friends for years. Obviously, the two actors have starred in countless Marvel projects together, with Cheadle playing military man James "Rhodey" Rhodes and Jackson starring as the gruff Nick Fury. The two men even appeared separately in Steven Soderbergh's 1998 film Out of Sight. But despite their off-screen friendship and overlapping career, they've never actually appeared together on screen — until now.
Jackson and Cheadle both star in Secret Invasion, the new Marvel spy series coming to Disney+ on June 21. The show centers on Nick Fury as he tries to untangle a vast conspiracy, discovering that shape-shifting alien Skrulls have spent the last few decades infiltrating Earth. During his investigation, he crosses paths with Rhodey, resulting in the first time Jackson and Cheadle have been able to act together.
"Day one, we sat down and were like, 'This should have happened a long time ago, but it's great that it's happening now,'" Cheadle tells EW. "Sam's a good friend, and I've known him a long time. It was cool to be able to sit across from him and go back and forth."
Gareth Gatrell/Marvel Studios Don Cheadle in Marvel's 'Secret Invasion'
When the show begins, Rhodey (a.k.a. "War Machine") has graduated from Air Force colonel to "righthand to the president," and Cheadle describes him as someone working closely with the White House to help contain threats. "In this one, he finds himself not directly at odds but somewhat on the other side of where Fury is," Cheadle teases.
Of course, Secret Invasion is a Marvel project, which means there's plenty of sci-fi bombast and alien drama. But it's also more grounded, and Cheadle says he was particularly impressed by Jackson's layered performance. "Sam gets to act, and we really get to see why he's such a revered actor," Cheadle adds. In fact, the entire show is stacked with impressive talent: Familiar Marvel faces like Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders, and Martin Freeman return, while starry names like Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, and Kingsley Ben-Adir also join the cast.
The result is a twisty thriller that Cheadle says will feel more like a Cold War spy story than a candy-colored superhero flick.
"It speaks to the elasticity of what the MCU can be," he adds. "This one feels much closer to a movie like Bourne Identity or something that's more along the tone of a '70s movie. It's not as much about the bells and whistles of big special effects. It's more about the intrigue and drama, the espionage and double-crosses. And I still think it fits perfectly with what the MCU is able to do and pull off."
In fact, Cheadle says, that variety is part of what he loves most about playing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's been more than a decade since he first joined the franchise, replacing Terrence Howard in 2010's Iron Man 2. (He remembers getting that call and being asked to say yes within two hours.) Since then, Cheadle has popped up in nine different Marvel projects, as Rhodey has evolved from Tony Stark's BFF to hero in his own right.
He's also got another project in the works: Secret Invasion will help set up Armor Wars, a planned standalone film that's all about Rhodey. Cheadle is tight-lipped about what that project will entail — or when we might see it — but he says he's excited to uncover new sides of a character he's played for so long.
"The fun part about it is that we're going to continue to explore Rhodey and — in some ways for the first time — get to see what makes him tick," Cheadle explains. "We understand his physical challenges, but we haven't really yet dug into a lot of his emotional and psychological [challenges]."
But in the meantime, he's excited for audiences to uncover the secrets of Secret Invasion. "It's a very fun job," Cheadle says with a laugh. "I'm glad I said yes with two hours' notice 12 years ago."
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